The Treble is on.
Pep Guardiola and certain Manchester City fans may not like to hear it yet, but after this schooling of Real Madrid to reach the Champions League final it is increasingly impossible to shut down the noise around three trophies. City are really here, and if they play like this there is not a team on the planet that can stop them making history.
What a night at the Etihad, City's finest ever in this competition, to banish the nightmares of last season's semi-final by destroying the aura of the greatest team to play in the Champions League. And, it should also be noted, still one of the greatest teams.
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Carlo Ancelotti's side proved that last week, where they withstood an early barrage at the Bernabeu and ultimately ended up feeling unfortunate not to have won after turning the tables so exquisitely on City. They showed it again at the Etihad, with Thibaut Courtois underlining his status as the best goalkeeper in the world with an astonishing fingertip save to deny a powerful Erling Haaland header from close range.
Even that wasn't enough though against this City team. This time, they made good on their early dominance with over 80 per cent possession when Kevin De Bruyne superbly slipped in Bernardo Silva and the Portugal international gave Courtois the eyes before smashing home; "Let's gooooooooo," shouted Guardiola.
There was disbelief as well as joy in the stadium at how dominant City had been - this is Real Madrid after all - and slowly but surely the visitors worked their way back. Kyle Walker had the crowd on their feet after chasing back to dispossess Vinicius in the box before he could get a shot away, before Ederson got a touch on a fierce Toni Kroos effort from range that thundered against the crossbar.
Minutes later though, City had doubled their lead with Jack Grealish at the heart of it again. The £100m man has had a season to savour and that continued here, unquestionably winning his duel with Dani Carvajal and giving City an edge all evening.
Grealish got almost every decision right, and having been denied an assist earlier in the game after Courtois stopped Haaland from converting his cross he was again as a clever inside ball to Gundogan in the box was cut out. However, the clearance only ballooned up in the air to a waiting Bernardo, who headed home to spark more jubilation.
City had good reason to think that Real would come back, but it was as close to perfect a half as has been seen, the Blues ending it with 196 touches in the attacking third compared to Real with just 10; as one Radio Marca analyst put it, it had been 'embarrassing'. For all the attacking football that this crowd have witnessed in previous seasons, this year City have been watertight at the back just as they were in 2021 when they reached the final.
Still, a reaction from Real was expected and again it came. Minutes after Guardiola and De Bruyne had had an angry exchange after the Belgian lost the ball, David Alaba thought he had got his team back into it with a wicked free-kick but was denied by a superb stop from Ederson.
Most of Ederson's life at City is being asked to perform in the few moments where City are vulnerable, and this season has seen him attract more criticism than any other but even the weird section of the fanbase who have been demanding Stefan Ortega to start ahead of him have had to appreciate how the goalkeeper has stepped up against Bayern and Real. He can be as proud as anyone with the clean sheet.
City's mastery of this tie, and improvement on recent seasons, was seen on the hour mark. Real were still pressing and looking dangerous when De Bruyne won the ball back and cleverly slipped it to Grealish. The ball through to a haring Haaland was on and was considered for a split-second before the former Villa man checked back and passed inside to Ilkay Gundogan, who spread it wide for Bernardo Silva.
The home team had sent their opponents from left to right while maintaining possession of the ball and as Grealish progressed down the left wing to support the ongoing attack his manager blew him multiple kisses to show just how much he loved the decisions taken and the way it was executed.
Rather than hold on for the win, City saw it out in style and Haaland was unlucky to see Courtois turn an effort onto the bar and over after a delicious assist from Gundogan nutmegging Eder Militao. Again, no bother as seconds later Manu Akanji headed home with some help from Militao to make it 3-0.
For all the aura around this Real team, they were made to look as ordinary as any other side that have run into this juggernaut of a club that are now unbeaten in 23 games in all competitions and looking unstoppable in their pursuit of a Treble. If there was one disappointment on the night, it was the ticketing mess that made the atmosphere less hostile than it had been for the Arsenal and Bayern games, but even that was forgotten by the time most were joining in with a second-half Poznan.
This was even more of a statement victory than the Bayern quarter was, one that will be remembered for a long time in the Etihad and may come to define this Guardiola team that have already reached so many new heights domestically. This was a pummelling of one of the best sides in world football on one of the biggest stages.
Istanbul awaits, and if City can keep this up then so too will the Treble.
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